While there’s technically 16 games on the baseball schedule today, only nine are included on DraftKings’ featured MLB DFS slate. It all gets going at 7:10 p.m. ET in Cincinnati.
Here are my best values plays for this evening’s action on the diamond:
- Giants SP Trevor McDonald ($6,700) vs. Blue Jays
- Dodgers C Dalton Rushing ($3,800) vs. Rockies
- Padres 2B Jake Cronenworth ($2,100) vs. Diamondbacks
Set your DraftKings MLB DFS lineups here: MLB $175K Bat Flip [$50K to 1st]
SP Trevor McDonald, San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays, $6,700
Generally speaking, I would say that McDonald is a better real-life pitcher than he is a fantasy asset. It’s just that you’re not directly rewarded in DFS for the things the right-hander does at a near elite level. For instance, McDonald only owns a 34th percentile strikeout rate this season (20.2%), but for the Giants’ purposes, that pairs well enough with a 95th percentile ground ball rate (56.2%) and a 90th percentile opponent barrel rate (4.2%). However, McDonald showcased his fantasy ceiling last Wednesday, when he tossed six scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks and racked up 26.9 FPTS despite only registering five strikeouts. I think a similar performance could be in store this evening.
The Blue Jays are once again mired in an absolutely horrendous offensive slump. Toronto has scored three total runs in its past four games. That’s right. Three. If you want to expand the span of time to the past two weeks, the Jays are slashing .194/.246/.307 as a team with a 54 wRC+. Woof. Anyone with a pulse and a pitch count around 100 is viable in this matchup at the moment.
C Dalton Rushing, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Colorado Rockies, $3,800
Rushing is back in the news again for all the wrong reasons, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that the backstop had three hits last night, including a pair of doubles. Rushing has been scuffling at the dish since a hit start in April. However, that’s the second time in his past four starts that he’s managed multiple extra-base hits in a single night. He’s also a 25-year-old catcher that’s got a .234 ISO and a 133 wRC+ in what will be his first-full campaign at the MLB level. There are reasons to dislike the man, yet there’s no denying he can hit.
On Tuesday, Rushing and the Dodgers will draw a very advantageous matchup with Michael Lorenzen ($5,000). If you think Lorenzen’s struggles in 2026 are solely about Coors Field, you’d be wrong. In fact, Lorenzen has a 5.68 ERA on the road and he’s somehow surrendered more than half his home runs outside of the altitude in Colorado. Go figure. LHB have also been an issue. Lefties are slashing .365/.423/.640 off of the veteran RHP.
2B Jake Cronenworth, San Diego Padres vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, $2,100
Look, I am well aware of Cronenworth’s stats for the season as a whole. He’s hitting so far below the Mendoza line, and his .065 ISO and 58 wRC+ are so small you’d need a microscope to see them properly. With all that said, he’s $100 over the minimum on Tuesday and he’ll likely be batting second in the Padres’ lineup against Zac Gallen ($5,700). Toss in the fact that Cronenworth already has three multi-hit performances in July, and you’ve got yourself an oddly obvious value play for DFS.
Gallen has been bad since the Diamondbacks’ cinderella run to the World Series in 2023, but things have gone to a whole new level of stink over the past six weeks. In Gallen’s past seven starts, he owns an 8.60 ERA with just a 9.2% strikeout rate. Opponents are slashing .344/.391/.613 with a .426 wOBA in this span of time. He’s simply no longer an MLB caliber arm.
